A Hiccup at the Festival
by LostInTheDreams
Summary: A trip to a school fair with Ran leaves Conan wondering what is real and what isn't when his reality is shattered and replaced with something he previously knew was impossible. After all, who could believe in Dragons? - AU World Crossover


Wanted to make it longer and include some characters from the TV show, but it would have gotten too long. This is a slight crossover focusing mainly on the DC cast within an AU universe of How to Train Your Dragon.

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A Hiccup at the Festival

It wasn't often that Conan found himself at his own school festival. As a teenager, he knew that the school had put on far more than normal, even for some little reason like this or that sports team winning certain games.

He was sure the administration only allowed it because their school hosted some of the highest grades in the area and some of the more lenient school directors.

It was even less often that he found himself at someone else's school festival.

Sonoko had come over the day before, saying that she'd met some really hot guy and that he was going to be there. Of course she hadn't wanted to go alone, though to him that didn't make much sense. If you were going to try and pick someone up, why take more competition along? Maybe because, as much as Ran liked to have fun with her friends, she had stuck to not being available on the dating scene. He'd have to make sure she knew how much he appreciated that at some point.

Even thoughts of Makoto couldn't keep Sonoko at bay as she ran between stalls, texting on her phone and seemingly having fun instead of looking for this guy she was talking about.

Conan, for his part, had no reason to do much. Being a younger kid here, he found himself being cooed over more than he wanted, and staying close to Ran at least offered some asylum from the other females. Not that he minded, of course, but he did feel strange getting his cheeks pinched with Ran there.

"So, Conan-kun, do you want to try the water game over there?" Ran bent down beside him and Conan had to stop from being _too_ unimpressed. His smile wasn't all that false when he turned to look up at her. Even kneeling, Ran was still a foot above him.

"Sure." It didn't look like much fun but most of the games here would be cheap and he was sure that at some point Sonoko was going to draw them away to a restaurant set-up where the waiters were to her tastes. He'd rather avoid that as long as possible.

Conan went across the way with her, sliding between two groups of students who he didn't recognize and probably went to this school. He was handed a large squirt gun when he got there and, to his chagrin, held up by Ran so he could see the targets.

He'd blame her being so close to him on the blush and his complete miss. It seemed the gun spat something like water with food coloring, as he could see the very corner of the target that he'd first struck.

"Do you want to try again?'

"Oh, no. It's okay, Ran-neechan." He'd rather not, though he did like the way that she held him against him. He tried not to think about that as he was put down again.

"That's too bad. Let me try."

Conan waited, watching Ran and what he could see of the little booth the students had set up. In a few seconds she huffed in disappointment as well and handed the gun back. "Oh well. Let's go see what's over there."

Being dragged around the other school wasn't as bad as Conan thought it was going to be. He hadn't visited many of the schools in the area, even though they were close. He has to say, their soccer fields put the one at this school to shame.

"Conan-kun."

Conan stopped when he heard his name called, a few brain cells telling him to worry about what was happening at that voice. He turned, seeing Amuro-san close behind them with a plastic cup in his hand and a smile. "What are the two of you doing here? Is Mouri-san on a case?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. My friend just asked if we wanted to come to the school festival, that's all. What are you doing here, Amuro-san?" said Ran.

Amuro looked sheepishly at them and scratched his cheek. "A girl showed up at the café and Azusa-san told her that I might be able to help her. I told her I was busy but she wouldn't let up so I said I'd look around today but that was all I could do for her."

"What's the matter? What did she ask you to look into?"

Conan was a bit curious as well.

"Well, she just said some weird things happen here every now and then, and that she's grown scared of going to her math class because she upset one of the other students and swears that she put a curse on her. I told her it wasn't possible but she wouldn't believe me."

"A curse?" Ran looked scared and Conan had to roll his eyes. You had to be really dense to still believe in that stuff. He could never understand how murderers thought they could get away with it when they staged something to look like the same. This was just a high school girl overreacting though, and he could see why Amuro-san didn't want to take on the case.

"She was over there a second ago," he said as he pointed back at a stall that seemed to be selling different kind of drinks. Since it was hot out, it should have been getting more business, but right now no one was there and there was only one slightly confused girl behind the wood cutout. "But she ran off when someone said something to her."

Ran shivered slightly and Conan smiled, pulling on her shirt. "She's gone right now so there's no need to be worried. Curses aren't real."

He got Ran to nod but she only seemed to ease up the slightest bit. Conan let out a worried, agitated sigh before letting go of Ran and going over to get drinks for them too. He came back with them, handing one up to her. "See? It's just a normal stand and any curse that's out there has no reason to be after us."

This time Ran eased up more and took the cup, cradling it in her hand. "Thanks, Conan-kun."

"I wouldn't know if curses aren't real though," Amuro spoke up, and Conan just wished he'd be quiet. He just calmed Ran down. "There are lots of old stories and recent ones that deal with curses, and many people who believe in them too. The fact that they believe in them gives them the power they need to be real, now and then, but like Conan-kun said, there's nothing to be worried about. It's more of a mental effect than any physical one."

"Can we stop talking about curses?" Ran took a drink, most likely as a way to try and stop the conversation from happening. Conan was all for that and pulled on her shirt again.

"Come on. I think I see Sonoko-neechan over there."

"Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Conan jumped a bit, Ran more so, when some girl with dark, long hair shouted at them from behind. He turned to face her and watched the other teen's eyes go to their cups. "Where did you get that?"

"The booth over there," Ran said on instinct, Conan remaining silent.

"I told her not to do anything until I got back! Did you drink any?"

Conan looked at his cup, nodding and seeing Ran nod to the girl as well. The other teen sighed, and Conan noticed how her hair seemed to have a strange extra color to it. Her eyes also fit in with colored contacts more than any real eye color and he couldn't be sure they weren't.

"This is bad. I didn't even finish working on it. Listen, whatever happens, I _might_ be able to get you out of trouble. You're going to have to wait for me to contact you because I have no idea where you're going to end up."

"Akako-san, right?" Amuro took a few steps forward, tipping his own cup as well. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know how you know my name but I'll save asking you for when I rescue you. Again, don't get into any trouble. Head to the nearest, safest, area, and I'll be there as soon as I can, _if_ I find time. You are the ones who went and drank the potion without asking."

"Potion? But she gave us-"

Conan wasn't sure what Ran said. All he knew was the world started going black on him. He felt like he might be falling over, but that didn't seem possible because he wasn't standing anywhere anymore. Someone had gone 'click' and turned off the universe on him or something.

Then he felt a tug and the blackness seemed to have objects in it. They were too hard to see and too far, but he had the feeling he was moving very fast through a tunnel of some sort.

After what felt like a jumble of long, delirious moments that couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes, he started to feel something again.

There was ground beneath him, as if he were lying down. It was like waking from a dream and he slowly opened his eyes, seeing the night sky and what looked like several rock formations off to his right. Since he was seeing it, he knew he had to be laying on the rock structures as well, but it didn't feel cold or uncomfortable to him and he found himself closing his eyes again.

As he did, it was as his brain started working. He opened his eyes. The moon was only half full above him and yet he could see far off into the darkness. He was also aware that there was something large and heavy draped over him, like a winter blanket.

That… and he could swear he was becoming aware of limbs he knew he didn't have.

Slowly, just seeing if this was real without having to look, Conan moved a few new bones and muscles he felt himself possess. Yes, that did indeed fit with where a tail would be and how it would move.

He felt his ears prick up when he heard a noise behind him, knowing that shouldn't be possible. The sound of footsteps on stone was quiet and slow, but they were close.

Conan got up slowly and it took him a second to realize he was a quadruped now. He had no idea how that was possible but, looking down, he saw scaly black legs – or front paws or whatever they were. He lifted his back legs as well and turned to examine himself.

What he thought was a blanket wasn't. It was skin wrapped around fragile bones. He swished his tail in front of him to get a better look at it, seeing a fin-like appendage on the end.

He stared at himself for a while, knowing what couldn't possibly be real. He… was a dragon.

Lifting his head up, still too stunned to do much, he saw another dragon. This one was a dark color, like he was, and if it weren't for his great vision he knew they would have blended in great with the night.

_What in the world is going on?_

The other dragon backed away, it's limbs longer and thinner than his own. It revealed the full breadth of its wings as it took a few hesitant half-steps/half-flaps back.

Conan-kun?

Conan could hear the voice in his head. He didn't know how that was possible and he shook it, trying to understand what had happened. That sounded just like Ran.

Feeling his limbs shake slightly, Conan turned. He nodded his head, not sure if the other dragon had spoken to him or how, or how he could respond. He opened his mouth and tried, a strange, growl-like noise coming out. He closed it quickly, not wanted to scare the other dragon, or himself.

_Conan-kun, that _is_ you._

_How in the world is she doing that?_ Conan thought to himself. Strangely enough, the other dragon almost seemed to… laugh.

I can hear you, silly. I think all we have to do is think what we want to say and we hear it.

Conan wasn't sure how much of this impossibility he could take. He found himself laying down on the stone, feeling as comfortable as if it were a bed, and closing his eyes. It was a lot to take in. Ran… was a dragon too? He was a dragon? What was going on?

He could hear those soft footsteps again and felt when the other dragon… cuddled? – beside him. While he had what he believed to be longer wings, and a thicker body and limbs, the other dragon was thin and longer, bigger only because of its length rather than its weight. He was pretty sure they'd weigh about the same, and equally sure that his mind analyzing their bodies was easier to do than accept what had happened.

Ran was some sort of black dragon. She had a thin body, thin legs, and claws where he had something more similar to paws. Her wings neared his own in length, and he was pretty sure she was a dragon that relied on speed more than anything else. What scared him was there were two large spikes near her lizard-like head that looked like they could skewer him of she wanted to.

He was sure he was only laying down a minute or two before he heard a deep growl that seemed to shake the very ground. He found himself quickly on his feet, Ran not as steady as she half fell over when he stood before she could.

Before him was a third dragon, this one large, almost as big as four or five of him and Ran put together. It was black, or dark purple, and it came towards them slowly and with purpose. Behind the dragon, he saw another just like it. Unlike he and Ran, these dragons also seemed to have horns.

_Back up,_ Conan told her, not sure if it was really getting through to her. _I have no idea how to fly but now seems like a good time to try it._ He wasn't about to be turned into a dragon and get eaten the second he was.

He couldn't turn to see if Ran understood him, but he did feel the wind as her wings opened up. He opened his own, growling and lowering his head in some animalistic instinct that he now seemed to possess.

The other two dragons didn't stop in their advancement, and he walked backwards, opening his own wings as well. It felt so strange to have them. While the wings of a bat looked comparable, and frail, they felt a lot stronger when he was actually using them. It would take a lot of energy to use muscles he never had, and he wasn't sure they could outrun these two. They may be larger, but their wingspan was as well. Statistics were against them.

Conan turned his back on them at the last possible moment, running to the edge of the cliff they seemed to be near, water splashing far below them. He stopped before jumping, seeing Ran had stopped first. He couldn't just leave her.

_Go_!

_I can't_, Conan heard in Ran's voice once more. _I'm… I'm afraid of the water for some reason. I… I don't want to be near it_.

Great. Conan turned to the other two, hearing them land close by to them. Apparently they had expected them to fly off already, and were now baring their fangs at them as if to eat them. Did dragons eat other dragons? Conan wasn't sure he wanted to know.

With Ran cowering and himself much too small to take on two larger dragons, Conan lowered his body toward the ground, hoping size and agility would at least let him _some_ advantage.

There was a loud roar from off to his side and both of the larger black dragons turned. It was suddenly like he was in some fantasy book, where the two black dragons were getting taken on by the good dragon.

At least, Conan typically assumed good with lighter colored dragons. Since he and Ran were black too, he couldn't be sure of that anymore.

This dragon was gold in the moonlight, spines lining its body, head, and even its wings. Conan noticed a lot of comparisons to his own body when it came to structure, but even more differences.

The gold dragon roared again but it only turned the two black dragons' attention to it. Shifting stances to meet a dragon their own size, both black ones cautiously moved forward. Conan stayed where he was, hoping to lose their attention and maybe help.

Then he was blinded.

He didn't know what the gold dragon did but it was somewhat hard to look at. He'd expected fire. Dragons breathed fire. Whatever the gold one breathed though, it was closer to melted gold than anything else. Conan watched as golden sand particles and fire hit one of the dragons in the face, making it screech and turn away. The other dragon took the distraction its injured friend was making to charge at the gold dragon.

The other dragon didn't have much time to do anything, but it looked as if it were expecting this. Turning as the black one charged it, it allowed itself to be knocked over. Conan saw something bright flash in the dark one's mouth before the gold one kicked it off of itself and over toward the sea.

Looking over, Conan watched as the dragon simply spread its wings, looking to turn this into some type of aerial battle.

Then, as strange as it was, the dragon seemed to shoot _lightning_ out of its mouth. The gold dragon had no chance to dodge this, as it snuck around the rock and hit it.

Shaking it off, though clearly injured, the gold dragon roared at the other, jumping off the cliff itself. Conan looked over and watched it open its wings to glide before flapping them to regain the height it lost.

It was fast but the other dragon was faster. It easily shot lightning at the gold dragon, the other doing its best just to avoid the blast.

Meanwhile, the injured black dragon that had been on the cliff with him turned its sights back on its original prize – them.

Conan did his best to sound threatening as well but didn't pull off anywhere near the volume and bass that the black dragon gave him in return.

He looked over the edge of the cliff, thinking about jumping again. It would be hard to lose them but he and Ran would blend in well, even with dark vision. It was possible but, looking at Ran, he was pretty sure that she wasn't going to try for it.

Conan was getting ticked. He was somewhere he didn't know, in a world of the impossible, stuck as a smaller dragon with a hydro-phobic Ran, and he had no idea how to solve any of the issues he was faced with.

Something felt like it was burning inside of him. He didn't know how to attack these things, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

As he was about to let out either a burp or hopefully some kind of an attack, a blast exploded between him and the much larger dragon. Conan quickly got his sight back but the energy he had built up was lost.

"Woah there! Be careful where you aim that."

Conan was _sure_ he heard English. He turned, looking over his shoulder, half afraid to take his eyes off the other dragon. He wasn't too happy with what he saw, but he wasn't as worried anymore. It was either help, or someone who would fight with the current dragon over who would get to eat him first.

Some of his fear subsided when he saw a human in the darkness. He couldn't make out much, the black dragon he was riding blocking out most of his view, but he knew a human when he saw one. Or smelled. That was kind of weird but sniffing the air gave him confidence that his eyes weren't wrong.

The black dragon looked up at the dragon and its rider, shooting lightning up at them. The pair easily avoided it and Conan took that time to walk around the other dragon so he wasn't on the ledge anymore. _Come on_. Maybe Ran would get more courage away from the hundred-foot drop. He knew it wasn't helping him any.

Taking shelter behind some of the large rock formations, Conan ushered Ran to safety. From there he watched dragon and rider take on the much larger dragon. Where speed was concerned, they were near equal. It came down to tactics and it seemed two heads was better than one.

After getting a blast in the face for the second time, the larger purple dragon with the horns let out a screech and turned tail, flying off into the distance. Conan looked up at the rider, making his way back to the water and looking down. The gold dragon was still there as well, though it looked like he was injured. Where the second black dragon had gone, he wasn't sure.

"This isn't good. I have to tell the others. The Skrills are getting closer and closer to Berk." The rider and dragon landed close to him, Conan taking a few steps back from them. Ran, thankfully, had stayed in hiding.

"Don't worry little fella. We aren't here to hurt you." The rider got off, revealing himself to be a boy, barely in his teens. Conan stopped, unsure what he was supposed to do. As far as size went, it looked like he was actually bigger for a change, if only in weight. "Look at that. Another Night Fury. You have some strange markings though, buddy."

The teen came closer to him and Conan let him, tense and waiting to see what to do. He felt when the brown-haired boy ran a hand under his eyes. "I didn't think Night Furies had white markings. It kind of makes you look like you're tired. You're pretty young too, aren't you?"

_Well duh_, Conan thought to himself. He could see the similarities between him and the dragon with the harness easily. Said dragon gave him the weirdest lopsided smile when he met his eyes.

"I wonder where his parents are. Maybe he's some sort of different breed." The boy backed off, going over to the other dragon and petting it. _Petting_ it, like it was some kind of dog. "If there are more of those Skrills around, he should really come back to Berk with us."

The lick from the other dragon must have been enough to make up the boys mind. Conan shook his head, backing up more and going towards Ran. He stayed behind the rocks, seeing the other two following him. Ran peeked out at them before hiding back where she was.

What's going on? Are they the good guys, or the bad?

_Honestly, I have no idea._ Speaking to her through thought was something very strange, and Conan had to wonder if she could hear _everything_ he thought, or just the words he wanted to put into speech. Maybe it was just some type of limited telepathy instead of mind reading. _But they can't be worse than the dragons._

"Wow, what's a Flashfang doing so far over the ocean?" The teen came closer again and Ran winced back, but Conan nodded his head forward.

_Honestly, I'd rather take my chances with them than staying here. If they're leaving, we should go with. It's not safe here_.

"Here. I won't hurt you. I didn't mean to scare you." The teen bent over, again, as if calling a dog. Conan rolled his eyes and stepped out, turning back to Ran with the best look of encouragement he could.

Ran came out slowly, getting pet on the nose. It was so strange to be thinking of the dragon as Ran, and even stranger to be seeing her get _pet_ by a guy. Conan shook his head, banishing those thoughts to somewhere they couldn't bother him – or at least, couldn't be heard.

"There you go. You should _really_ come back with us. I've never seen a Flashfang this far from land. I wonder if you two got lost. You seem on the smaller side too." The teen looked back. "What about the Sand Wraith? Toothless, go check on him."

The black dragon that came with the boy nodded and hopped off the cliff. Conan watched, going over to the edge, seeing how he glided down to the lower area of the land where the sea just touched the rocks.

The other two dragons used a series of noises before both flapped their wings and started to rise. Conan watched in fascination, opening his own a bit and moving the smaller bones around to feel how they worked.

"You had to fly to get here, didn't you little guy?" The teen put a hand on him and Conan looked over at him, shaking his head. That made the brown haired boy take a few steps back.

"Did… did you just understand me?"

Conan wasn't sure how he should react to that himself. He looked at the teen, then Ran, before nodding.

"Wow. I mean, Toothless understand me but… Okay, how about this? How old are you? Just… put your foot down or something to signify months."

Conan shook his head. That would take way too long.

"Don't want to talk about that, huh? Or maybe you can't understand me. How-" Conan went over to the teen, nudging him a bit, using his wing to try and get him to follow him. "Whoa! Okay, okay. I'm coming."

Conan kept going, looking for a way he could communicate. Finally, he found a small, muddy patch that might have been a nest at some point. He wrote out his name, and the teen looked over at the writing. After a minute, he scratched his head. "I'm sorry, I don't know what that means."

So, he spoke English but didn't write it. Conan wasn't as up-to-date on foreign languages, and had a few ideas of what he'd write in, but didn't know for sure. To save time, he nudged the boy forward with his head and then pointed to his own writing, nudging a stick towards him.

"Ah, okay. You want me to copy that?"

Conan shook his head.

"Okay, so… you want me to write?"

Conan nodded.

He watched as the brown-haired boy wrote out something. He looked it over, kind of recognizing the structure of the letters, but a few were off. Maybe it would be close enough for him to translate. He hadn't studied the runic alphabet in some time, but it had been one of the easier ones and something he hadn't forgotten just yet. He wrote out his own name again, this time using the characters, and pointed to himself.

"That's... pretty up there but… Conan?" The teen looked confused, as if he hadn't heard a name like that before. Conan nodded, looking back over his shoulder, and wrote Ran's name before pointing to her.

"Wow. You could teach half the village. This if the first time I've met a dragon that could… well do anything besides attack or… well, you've seen Toothless.

Toothless, he had to admit, was a strange name and he had thought he'd misunderstood it. The dragon hardly looked like it didn't have any teeth. Conan did his best to shrug, the wings pulling his skin in weird ways when he did.

"This is amazing. Just wait until I tell the others. They'll-" Conan pushed him with a foot. He hadn't meant for it to be hard, but apparently he didn't know his own strength. He went back in with his nail, writing out the basics of what happened- which boiled down to 'not from here, need safety, cannot explain.' He would have written more but his claws were thick and there wasn't that much mud to work with.

"Okay… so you and the Flashfang are together. What about the other dragon?"

Conan shrugged. He wasn't sure about the other dragon. It hadn't tried to speak with him, and neither had the two that attacked him. Either it was just another dragon, or Ran and him were the only ones who could talk to one another.

"We can take you back to Berk with us. I was planning on doing that anyway. It's about an hour's flight from here. Do you think you can make it? I'm not sure how far young ones can fly? You know, Toothless and I will help if you get tired, or I can come back and bring help." The teen reached over and petted him on the head. Conan let him, though he didn't think he'd ever want to be put in this situation again. "My names Hiccup. Nice to meet you, Conan."

Conan followed him back towards Ran. Smiling was kind of hard when he tried. _We're going to go back with him. It can't be any worse than staying here_. He looked over and saw the 'Sand Wraith' that was now back on the cliff with them and pretty banged up. He could see singe marks on its back and forelegs. _Has that one spoken to you?_

Ran shook her head, the large spikes helping him see the dragon as her. _No, but you haven't been talking to me much either. Do you think it's Amuro-san?_

_I don't know. Did he actually take a drink out of his cup or not? He might not be here at all_. Conan sighed and when he did, white hot fire came out. He jumped back, looking at the singed rock in front of him.

"Careful. Jeez, you almost got me there." Hiccup swatted at his pant leg, where Conan noticed that he was missing a foot. How had he not noticed that earlier? The metal was singed, as were his pants, but it didn't look like he was hurt.

Conan bowed his head, hearing some sort of apologetic noise come out of his throat. He saw Ran shake her head and the other dragon… had bent down and looked like it was going to attack him before he'd noticed his confusion.

The gold dragon came over, standing between them and shoving the dark one partially away so he was between them. Conan didn't know why he knew that it was a he, only that he did. Maybe dragons just knew that about one another. And Conan had just called himself, albeit only in his mind, a dragon. Great, he was falling for this delusion.

Hiccup got on Toothless and both took to the air. The golden dragon was a little slower, its wing having taken some damage, but it flew up as well. Conan tried to flap his wings, getting the feel of them. It was hard and his body was heavy for his wings to be this short, but he was able to get a few feet off the ground. He landed, looking over at Ran.

_It's easy. Just don't look down_.

_That's easy for you to say. You're small and they can catch you_. Ran flapped her wings, getting up in the air on her second try. Then she looked over at the water and quickly landed again. Conan went up to her, trying to encourage her.

Don't worry. Just don't look down and it won't be so bad.

If a dragon could cry, he had a feeling Ran would be. Her eyes were big and everything about her body spoke of defeat. _I know that, but I know the water is there too. I don't know why I'm so scared of it._

The golden dragon landing beside him made Conan jump. They had just been attacked. It was not good to sneak up on him.

Lowering a wing, making it like a ramp, the gold dragon turned its body towards Ran. She was small enough that she should be able to fit comfortably on its back as long as she didn't move around too much.

Ran looked hesitant, and Conan was as well, but he knew there was no way that she would fly on her own. He nudged her so she was standing, guiding her to the other dragon's back. He helped her situate herself, easier because her claws were far more like hands than his own.

Flapping its larger wings, the gold dragon took off again, slower at first as it judged her weight on his back. Conan took off as well, using the method of jumping off the cliff instead. He'd wanted to try it since the fight began, and he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity now.

The wind caught his wings, keeping him in the air as he got used to the feeling of gliding. Slowly, he started to flap his wings and get higher and higher. He didn't make it beside the two larger dragons above him, but he liked the unhindered view of the ocean below him. In the distance he could see a few islands, all small and looking as lifeless as the one he'd just been on.

While he couldn't keep time as a dragon, Hiccup's timing wasn't that far off. It was around an hour before a large island came into his view. It had a hill in the middle of it, and he could see grass and buildings, along with steep cliffs and pillars for rock here and there, likely making it a great defensible area.

"This is Berk," Hiccup spoke over the wind. "Home sweet home. I'll find Gobber to help treat your friend and maybe we should get something to eat." He petted his dragon, Conan watching Toothless turn to get a certain spot between what he thought of as ears. "And you did a good job on patrol tonight, buddy."

Conan landed with the others, hearing the gold dragon take a harder landing than the rest, his wing down and letting Ran get off. When he brought himself to a standing position, Conan noticed how strangely his leg bent. Hiccup went over to him and looked at it too. "Don't worry. We'll get that fixed and you'll be back on your feet before the week's end."

Conan looked the golden dragon over. _Amuro-san, is that you?_

The dragon turned to him as if it had heard him and he could swear it smiled at him. _The one and only_, he heard in his head, undeniably Amuro's voice.

Conan huffed, careful to close his mouth before fire could come out again. _Why didn't you say anything? I half thought you were going to attack us too, when we saw you!_

_I was kind of in the middle of a fight, as well as trying to fly for the first time. Unlike you, I didn't get to learn with baby steps, now did I?_ Conan could swear the smile was still there as Amuro the golden dragon moved to lay down, staying off his injured leg.

He had jumped right in to rescue them, so Conan couldn't refute that argument. He still could have said something. He'd had all that time before they left the island to do so.

"You should be fine sleeping there. I'm not sure where you two want to go, but if you don't want the others bothering you I'd say come back home with me and Toothless."

Hiccup's dragon didn't seem as happy with that idea and grumped to its rider, making some markings in the grass as it showed its displeasure.

"Come on, Toothless. Don't get jealous. I'm not replacing you and both of them are small enough that there should be plenty of room. Dad's got some room in his bedroom too, so how about one sleeps with us and the other sleeps in there?"

Toothless still didn't seem happy about this arrangement but Conan would rather be in a house than in the open. The last time they were in the open they were attacked, and honestly, he could use a good night's rest after all this craziness.

He followed Hiccup, even with Toothless growling at him and giving him the dragon's version of the stink eye. Ran followed after him, slightly more ill at ease in this situation. Conan wasn't afraid for some reason. He didn't know what it was but it felt like it was all for show- like a child throwing a fit.

When they entered the house it was late, and Hiccup's dad was asleep. Instead of going into the man's room like Hiccup was trying to encourage, he turned and went over to the couch in the main room, where the dying embers of a fire still lingered. He laid down, careful with letting out a breath, and saw Ran lay at the foot of it.

"Fine, take the house. Just don't break it or my dad will throw a fit."

Conan didn't acknowledge him, closing his eyes and hoping that all of this would be gone when he woke up.

…

Unfortunately, everything was still right where it had been the night before when Conan opened his eyes. The only difference was there was a rather large man looking down at him, and Conan met his eyes right back.

"Ai, the boy brings home more dragons. Just what I need." Conan watched him as he went past him, the older man nothing like his son. He had a well-defined body and was short and thick, where his son was tall and lanky. "If you're wanting some food, I'd go out and beg for some. I haven't gone fishing yet and they'll be others that are willing to part with some extra."

Conan tilted his head, a little confused, but stood and hopped off the couch. It was strange how much more he did end up feeling like a dog instead of a dragon.

Opening the door was easy. The older man had made sure the knob was turned and he was able to push it with his nose to exit.

He was amazed at what he saw. There were dragons _everywhere_. He backed up a bit into the house, afraid he'd be attacked, but it looked like they were just as much pets as Toothless was. His hesitation didn't last long and he found himself out among the others, testing his wings and acting cute to get fish. It was degrading on so many levels but no one knew it was him so Conan found himself not caring.

Ran followed him out after an hour, seeing him getting fish and trying the same thing. They were more put off by her than him, so he ended up getting fish for the both of them.

Feeling full and happy, taking an extra fish, he went over to find Amuro-san.

Amuro, the gold dragon, was curled up and sleeping, with his leg in some sort of makeshift brace. Conan went over and nudged him, waking him up. He noticed when Amuro looked at him that, besides the color and some spikes, they looked like the same type of dragon. He laid the fish beside him.

I don't know how but we're able to digest the bones. I know I'm hungry so you must be too.

Dragon Amuro smiled. _I am. How thoughtful of you. So, we're safe now, are we? I get the feeling that that won't last long. Did you know how boarded up this place is? I'd say they'd been under attack in the last month, if not less_.

_I noticed_. Conan was trying not to think about it. There were a lot of dragons here. That _had_ to mean something when it came to defense.

Amuro took the fish in his mouth and swallowed it whole without chewing it. Conan hadn't been able to do that and Ran had just picked at hers. _That is so gross_.

_It's nature. That's how the body wanted to eat it, so that's what I did._ Amuro stretched before standing, staying off his injured limb. _I have to say, it's nice being a dragon. Different, but nice. _

_Shut up_. Conan sat down, looking over the sea. Ran sat down beside him. She'd been very subdued since they'd gotten here. Being smaller and, by the looks of it, not having much fire power, that only made sense.

_We're going home so it doesn't matter_.

Conan turned, barely recognizing the voice of the girl who they'd spoken to before the world went black. He looked around but he couldn't see her anywhere.

_Ahem. Down here_.

Conan looked down and, between his legs, was a really small, very cute and large-headed, red dragon.

_What's that look for? Get over here and lower your head_. The red dragon looked mad, and Conan saw a few little sparks of fire come out of her mouth as she stomped the ground. He'd never complain about being small again.

Do you want to get home, or not?

Conan lowered his head, not sure what he was supposed to do. The red dragon climbed on his nose, drawing something on his head. _Now don't go messing with other people's spells._ She hit him. It couldn't have been very hard because it barely hurt, but next thing he knew all he was seeing was black.

…

"Ran! Are you okay? Ran?"

Conan opened his eyes, feeling someone holding him up off the ground. He looked up to see a few worried girls around him. One of them sighed. "The boy woke up."

Conan got up on his own, one of the girls telling him to take it slow. He was slightly unsteady once he was on his feet, used to using four instead of two. "Ran?"

"I'm okay." He heard Ran, really heard her this time, as her voice traveled to him over the sounds of the crowd around him. He went to her side, since she was just a few feet from him, and saw her coming to as well. "I just had the strangest dream."

"It wasn't a dream."

Over them stood the girl with the strange colored hair and eyes. She shook his head at them. "I leave the stand for two seconds and the wrong people get the drinks. I _told_ her not to do anything until I got back. You're lucky I was able to find you. Dominant species of the world, right. That spell must have been messed up somehow."

Conan heard a hiss and turned to see Amuro-san getting to his feet. There was a spot on his arm that was discolored and he held it close, trying to hide the injury. Conan knew from just the few seconds glance he had of it that he'd need to go to the hospital.

That didn't matter much to him right now though. The injury told him that, on some level, that had all just been real. "… How?"

"Don't you worry about that. As far as I'm concerned, nothing happened. You all just blacked out."

Conan wasn't going to just take it at that, but he had no idea what to ask her without questioning his views on the world. Actually, it wasn't that he didn't know what to ask her, it was that he had too much to ask her.

"Akako-san?" Amuro came over to him, limping slightly. He hadn't seen his other injuries but he had fought a dragon. He didn't know how that equaled out when he was a dragon too. "Seeing as you've… changed my view on a few things, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" The dark haired girl didn't look like she wanted to stay there any longer. Conan wanted to follow her, wherever she went, but he had a feeling that, at the same time, he didn't want the answers that she'd have.

"Tamiki Nanoka. If you… if you wouldn't mind laying off of her, the girl would really appreciate it."

The teen stared them down for a few seconds before nodding. "I'll think about it." Then she walked off.

As if none of that had happened. Yeah, right. He turned to Amuro-san, looking at Ran as well after. "Curses, huh? I think that's easier to believe than _that_"

"Yeah," Amuro sighed. "And I think I owe that girl an apology."

Conan shook his head, the crowd around them looking at them confused and worried still. Amuro would need to go to the hospital, but he could go on his own. Right now, no matter what, he was getting out of here. Sonoko could go date hunting when he wasn't afraid he was about to sprout wings and a tail again.

"I have to say though, flying was pretty cool."

Conan turned to Ran when he heard her speak and had to smile. Yeah, it kind of was. "Without the danger and raw fish, I'd agree with you."

He heard Amuro laugh beside him. "Don't knock it until you try it."

Conan was pretty sure he'd never be eating raw fish ever again in his life, but he knew better than to jinx himself and say he wouldn't. Curses, apparently, weren't the hardest thing to believe in.


End file.
